Checkmate
by Takhrenixe
Summary: -It was all only ever a game, and Sonic does not like the fact that Egghead would believe he'd lose so easily.- A 'What If' prompt gone way past wrong... Rated T for blood, gore, disturbing mental images, situation, violence, and Sonic's psychosis.


**Greetings, Fanfictioners! I have yet another meaningless jumble of words for you to decipher. Enjoy.  
****Note: Set in Sonic X universe, but he talks like he does in SatAM. Why? Because I wanted him to. That is all.**

_**Checkmate**_

"Come one step closer, Hedgehog, and I will order my robots to attack you."

"Always the businessman, ain'tcha? That's no way to talk to an old friend, y'know. It's rude."

The impossible had happened and the world was ending, and well, if it wasn't _him_.

At first, Eggman had been overjoyed at his latest and last accomplishment: a serum that erased the victim's memory and took away all concept of what was right and good, replacing it with nothing so much as utter bloodlust...but it had backfired.

When Sonic was taken over, the effect only robbed him of _most _of his memory; he'd been left with nothing but everything that had ever been done to him by the man who was now at his utter mercy. Or lack thereof.

And it had understandably driven him even further out of his murderous mind.

The better side of Sonic would have balked at the very idea of what he was doing, but thanks to Eggman's meddling that side of him no longer existed, as was the case for his friends, family, and any sense of right and wrong he'd had (or rather, he knew _exactly_ how right or wrong his actions were, but blatantly did not care).

The Blue Blur was trapped in a world of hazy half-memories, surrounded by the blackness of psychological oblivion, and suffice it to say he was more than resentful for his predicament; stack that with the fact of the day being he had no idea how to be courteous, kind, forgiving or any of that-and having no close friends to have taught him mercy or benevolence, or whom he would horrify or disappoint if he acted ruthlessly-and Eggman was, quite bluntly, screwed.

"Y'know what, Egghead? I don't get it," the azure Hedgehog quipped. "Why couldja possibly want to make the one person alive who hates ya, more than anything else in existence, a thousand times more than powerful enough to murder ya in the space o' two seconds? Y'musta had a deathwish or somethin', but hey-"

Here he shrugged, a maniacal, cold, and absolutely un-Soniclike smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, exposing razor-sharp teeth.

"-who am I to look a gift-horse in the mouth, y'know?"

Instantaneously he was sitting cross-legged about four inches away from Robotnik (who was frozen to the spot by his assumption that if he tried to get away he wouldn't get more than two feet between he and his visitor before he was dead), looking thoughtful.

"Guys like you are kinda hard to figure out, but I think I understand you a bit better now. Y'don't really have a goal, or purpose or whatever. Y'just roll with the punches, and see what becomes of it. But that changed when ya met me, didn't it, old man? Ya weren't just wanderin' aimlessly anymore; you had somethin' to chase, to confront, to _conquer_. And ya loved it. Ya loved our little game of cat-and-mouse, didn'tcha? You conditioned yourself to it, and you constantly work for more ways to gain the upper hand, fairly or otherwise. It became your life, it became _you_."

Emerging from the startling, accurate view of his foe's inner workings, he smiled again.

"It really was a game of cat-and-mouse, wasn't it? One chased the other, almost gettin' 'em, then they sped up and got away. Story of our life, eh?"

A sly glint came to the boy's emerald orbs, giving Robotnik a chill.

"It's funny, y'know...ya never figured outcha were really the mouse."

At this, Robotnik's eyes flashed in confusion; though there was nothing stopping him from voicing said confusion, he stayed silent, honestly intrigued yet loathe to admit it.

"I was the cat from the start. I was the one that showed up, gotcha interested, and purposely never really bothered in our battles. I played with ya, with your confidence, your ego, your emotions. I letcha slip through my fingers time and time and time again when I more than could have crushed ya to dust the first time around. And y'loved it. Ya pushed yourself to be better, to build greater weapons, to hatch greater schemes. Your life revolved around me, 'cuz of me. Exactly like I wanted it to. I _controlled_ ya. If I wanted ya to win, ya won, if I wanted ya to lose, ya lost. I've been the puppeteer above the stage all along, pulling your strings whichever way I choose and sitting back to watch and laugh at what happens."

Eggman was terrified now, because he knew in the farthest corners of his mind that the amnesiac furry was flawlessly correct. It scared him beyond reason that Sonic could read their rivalry like a worn out old book.

The look in said Hedgehog's eyes gave the trapped scientist the distinct and disturbing impression Sonic would no doubt greatly enjoy tearing each and every page away from the binding and burning them one by one.

"I've gotcha thinking, haven't I? Y'know I'm right. You're just scared to admit it. Whaddaya think about our relationship, Egghead? Do tell."

Robotnik stared at his foe with a mix of fear and fascination.

"What do I think?" he said hoarsely. "I think you could have had untold potential as a villain, had you chosen to walk that path. Shame you wasted your talents on the hero's life, I can see now it doesn't suit you."

Sonic sat up a bit straighter, eyes aflame with incredulous laughter. He propped his head up with one hand, elbow resting on his knee as he gave the man a small smile.

"What's with all the past tense lingo, old man?" he giggled, "Come on, I thoughtcha were smarter than that, 'Doctor' Robotnik! 'Had I chosen'? Whatcha think I'm doin' now, celebratin' Opposite Day?"

The light, carefree tone with which he said this told Eggman he was serious. He wondered just how much longer the Hedgehog was going to drag this out.

Sonic only had to glance at those eyes to know what he was thinking.

"_Someone's_ eager to die, I see." The eye-roll was almost audible in Sonic's voice.

"What, am I not interestin' enough for ya? I'm hurt, Eggman, really. And as for my 'potential as a villain' y'seem to think so highly of...thanks anyways, but I don't have potential. I got ability. I don't think about doin' stuff, I do it.

...I could probably outshine _you _the first day on the job!"

This outlandish statement launched Sonic into a fit of rauccous laughter.

"Somehow I don't doubt that, child."

The giggles and such abruptly ended, Sonic's small smile escalating into something that could only have been described as psychopathic.

"Finally! The mad scientist has a sense of humor! Oh, this is priceless; if only Shadow were here, he'd probably have a heart-attack or somethin'!"

Eggman's eyes widened slightly as he heard that last sentence, and it didn't go unnoticed by the Blue Blur.

"Yeah, I know him. I know everybody. Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy...everybody. You didn't honestly think I was gonna letcha take 'em away from me, didja? Like hell!"

Sonic's demeanor skyrocketed, leaping from enjoying himself to intense aggravation in a single second. The psychotic smile melted into a snarl, pale jade eyes steeling; he leaned forward, hands supporting his upper body as he sat with his face a mere inch from Eggman's. He let out a huffing breath, staring into the tiny brown dots that were his foe's eyes.

"I don't 'ppreciate whatcha did to me, in case ya haven't figured that out, Buttnik. _Way _past uncool."

The Hedgehog shifted his weight, uncomfortable with his current position because one hand rested on the side of his neck. There, a single puncture wound stood out from the otherwise cobalt fur, framed by a sickly shade of deep purple that still trickled slowly down from the place where a razor-edged needle had been shoved to the hilt with little to no remorse. Sonic bristled at the memory.

"What was the point, anyhow? Coulda just asked me to team up with you or somethin'! I woulda said yes, probably. Don't like the way those stupid humans are treatin' me and my friends lately; I've been wantin' to teach 'em a lesson. Ya coulda helped me with it, y'know. Woulda been fun. But y'just had to go an' attack me!"

The way the cerulean furry said that last sentence was regretful and almost whiny, as if he wished he could have been left to his own devices so he could play it a little rough with the humans, and was complaining to Robotnik because it was his fault that that hadn't come to pass.

Technically, truthfully and obviously, it was.

Sonic was, among other things that varied from pouty to pissed, not amused.

"I dunno if ya ever cared to notice", the Blue Blur growled with such potent animosity that Eggman had to wonder if this was really Sonic the Hedgehog in front of him, and not some earthbound demon from hell that he'd had the great misfortune to cross, "but havin' a piece of metal filled with poison stabbed into your neck kinda _hurts_."

Sonic looked for all the world about to lunge forward and rip his head off, but for some reason restrained himself. He scoffed darkly, leaning back on his elbows.

"But why _wouldja_ ever notice, I guess...after all, it was only a game."

The boy's whisper-soft and yet razor-sharp voice positively dripped with sarcasm as he said this, again rolling his eyes in a fashion that nearly made him look like himself, instead of the...thing...he'd been forced to become.

"Only a game. And ya couldn't even make the move yourself! Ya just stood back and watched while that stupid little _mock-up _of a mecha did your dirty work. Stood back and watched while I screamed, smiling like y'just won a championship on the ol' chessboard."

He leaned in even closer, nose touching that of his captive, eyes blazing; a sinister purple aura flaring up around him as he glared.

"Well, I got some news for ya, Egghead. Now it's your turn to scream."

The words acted as a sort of catalyst; amethyst flames erupted from nowhere and engulfed the technology savvy man in a prison of fire that expectedly had no effect whatsoever on the one who'd summoned it.

Eggman did indeed scream as the Chaos Energy-turned-inferno burned him; tendrils of flame snaked up his robust form toward his face and he screamed again as his hands reflexively slapped them away. The fire didn't seem to want to heed him though, so it pressed ever onward, scorching him until he could no longer force himself to move and attempt to escape the flames. Ivory gloves had long since been burned through, exposing tan digits that had also fallen victim, marred by the blaze that continued to wreak homicidal havoc with his slowly barbequeing body. Robotnik's shrieks of mortal agony rang through the halls of his secret base, but Sonic did nothing. He simply sat back and thoroughly _enjoyed_ the show.

"Ya never took it seriously, didja? Ya never thought _I_ could be serious. Wrongo!"

By now, the blackened, charred, screeching creature that stood before him looked nothing like who it had been mere minutes prior. Sonic grinned cheekily, giving a thumbs-up as he observed his work.

"Well hey there! Lovin' the new look, Robotnik!" he chimed, a manic gleam in his pale green eyes. He didn't even flinch as a bleeding mound of something that could just barely be recognized as having once been an arm shot out from the rest of the black and crimson shape on the floor and wrapped itself around his ankle.

With the smallest of movements, Sonic snapped it off the thing-that supposedly must have been a torso, he guessed-and kicked it away; it hit the opposite wall with a dull thud and fell back to the steel flooring, fingers still twitching spastically as it stained the room with yet more sanguine fluid.  
As if there wasn't already enough.

...Because there _wasn't_. For all Sonic cared it would never be enough.

Eggman still tried to drag himself (or what was left of him) away from the monster that was Sonic, only getting about an inch before a scarlet shoe stomped down upon his remaining arm, the bones, already reduced to mere toothpicks by the earlier inferno, splintering beneath the assault and all but dissolving into dust.

"Ah, ah, ah!" the azure Hedgehog admonished, voice condescending as if chastising a child who had misbehaved, "Can't have you crawling off to die alone, Eggy!"

He then seemed to rethink his words, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Well you actually can I guess. After I kill you."

This nonsensical statement sent him into another laughing fit, which lasted a little under a minute before he got his mental bearings-if that were even possible-and focused on the task at hand. Curling into the spiked ball that preceeded his trademark spindash, Sonic spun rapidly in midair, the excess Chaos Energy from his last assault moving to surround him with its dark-lavender mist in a kind of reverse forcefield, collapsing inward and at the same time being shoved away, swirling in ornate ellipticals that sent amethyst lightning streaking outward, hitting and electrecuting everything in its path. A shower of golden sparks joined the macabrely beautiful display, flashing sporadically as the already tremendous amount of energy in the room kept on climbing, pouring itself back into Sonic as the vicious cycle began again.

Finally Sonic barreled forward at speeds previously unheard of even to him, his target unable and at this point unwilling to defend itself.

This fact only served to fuel Sonic's anger, and he collided with what, to anyone looking on the scene, would have looked like a black-and-red supernova. Liquid life was scattered everywhere it could possibly have been thrown, making the place look like Chaos had entertained a sudden urge to overturn a gods-sized bucket of scarlet paint on the one-man battleground. A horrible sound filled blood-scented air, somewhat akin to the kind a buzzsaw would make.

A sick, twisted buzzsaw that had decided to use a human for practice instead of a slab of wood.

Wearing an expression of utter boredom that astoundingly contrasted what he'd just done, Sonic emerged from the torn and desecrated body of what had once been the terror of Mobius himself, Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik.

Unfurling slowly from his spherical battle maneuver, Sonic stood up, truly appearing like nothing so much as a terrifying glimpse into the underworld itself, _fuer grissa ost drauka_, the bringer of death.

His cobalt fur had been veritably drowned in a murky shade of purple, gloves and shoes soaked through with vibrant red, never to be clean again. Bits and fragments of crimson-stained ivory bone stuck out of his quills haphazardly, making him look almost comical if not for the sinister nature and reasoning behind his appearance. He smiled, a purely demonic smile stained with sanguine that could very well have frozen the sun, to say nothing of the hearts of his friends could they have seen him.

Absent-mindedly licking at a bit of scarlet that had splashed upon his muzzle, Sonic the Hedgehog just stood there and smiled.

A rumbling moan sounded from the lump of flesh in corner, miraculously (or not, really) having survived, for however short a time, his insides being ripped apart; Sonic's head snapped up at the sound, an expression of utmost glee lighting up his features as he bounded over and sat next to the thing that had emitted it.

"I gotta admit, ya played pretty good. Just not good enough."

A shuddering breath escaped the midst of the torched creature he'd addressed.

"Guess I win then, eh?"

The small chuckle at his own victory exploded into crazed laughter well beyond the realm of psychotic, and he couldn't stop himself falling over backward as the convulsive chortling overtook him. His legs kicked up in the air as he held his sides in sadistic mirth; the incessant cackling caused his lungs to burn, but he gave it no notice because apparently the sight of Eggman finally brought to justice was pretty much the _funniest_ thing ever to happen in the history of forever and the rest of time.

"Game, set, match, I win!"

Robotnik's last moments in the world he'd strived so long to conquer were spent listening to the shrill, demented giggling of a hero gone mad.

**END**.

-o-

**I'm not in the mood for lengthy explanations...  
****Losing a chess tourney+thinking about Sonic and Egghead+having just seen three horror movies+manic depression = this.  
****As you can plainly see, it makes no sense whatsoever. Merely a wistful fantasy on my part.  
****Tell me what you thought of it, please. All input is greatly appreciated, be it reviews, critques or flames. I enjoy flames. -points to fic-  
(PS - Digital cookies, milk and glomps to anyone who spots the "Sword of Truth" reference!)**

**Signing off for now,  
-Nix**


End file.
